Friday Follies: The Wrong Guy

This one has really made the rounds on the ‘net this week, even making it to CNN on Wednesday. In case you missed it, here’s the set-up:

The BBC invited Internet expert Guy Kewney on to their program to discuss a landmark court decision that had just been handed down. Unbeknownst to them, one Guy Goma, a cab driver emigre from Nigeria, had arrived the same day, same time for a job interview.

Well, it seems that somebody got the two of them mixed up and put the cab driver in the chair for the interview about the court decision. You have to watch it all the way though once — it’s only a little under two minutes long — then go back to about the 4 – 10 second mark to see the look on Mr. Goma’s face when he realizes what’s going on, the poor guy.

However bad it was for Mr. Goma, apparently Mr, Kewney was sitting in the green room in horror watching as his doppleganger was interviewed in his stead. Mr. Goma tries gamely to answer the questions and there is even a bit of a “Being There” moment at the end of the first question when he stammers out his “surprise” at being in the chair, which the interviewer takes at surprise at the verdict. From there, he soldiers on gamely and does pretty well. Apparently he’s become quite the folk hero in the UK as a result of his ordeal.

So click here and see what happened when the BBC got the wrong Guy in the chair.